C4 partnership to tackle climate anxiety

image shows a forest and stream

By Alexander Huls, deputy editor, YFile

York University’s C4: Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom program has partnered with GHD – an award-winning international company that offers engineering, architecture and construction services – and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to help students tackle climate anxiety.

Over the course of the upcoming 12-week winter term, up to 70 undergraduates will work with the partners to pursue multidisciplinary projects exploring the term’s challenge question: “How can we help young people in the Greater Toronto Area overcome climate anxiety, to be empowered to inform and drive our future pathways to an equitable and sustainable city?”

As the students develop their collaborative projects, GHD and TRCA will provide 10 to 20 hours of guidance throughout the term, including bringing in subject matter experts to participate, encourage and answer any technical questions that might arise.

Danielle Robinson
Danielle Robinson

GHD became interested in partnering with C4 while working on an environmental project with York, eager to find an opportunity to collaborate further with the University. “We were instantly interested in the C4 Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom and how it engages multidisciplinary teams to solve some of the world’s biggest problems,” says Tina Marano, GHD’s future communities leader, Canada, who will be involved with the program and students throughout the C4 winter term.

Early meetings with C4 made clear that a partnership would be a natural fit. “With GHD there was a clear alignment around our interests and values,” says Danielle Robinson, associate professor and co-founder of C4.

Like C4, GHD prioritizes sustainability in its work – with a focus on water, energy, infrastructure, and sustainable cities and communities – and seeks to drive positive change and make meaningful contributions to global sustainability goals.

Tina Marano
Tina Marano

GHD also shares an optimism that’s rooted in the capstone program and experience. “We’re a very positive, hopeful space. We think that we and our students can make a difference in the world and that we just need to figure out how to organize ourselves in order to do that,” says Robinson. “We need a partner that believes in those things.”

GHD does, says Marano. “Working with young professionals and new graduates across our organization and through partnerships like this, we nurture a culture that embraces optimism, collaboration, experimentation and curiosity,” she says.

The partnership with the TRCA acting as the community stakeholder followed soon after, and the organization echoes the shared goals of its partners. “We’re a community-based organization, so we want to look to our communities to help us find the solutions to the problems that we all face together,” says Darryl Gray, director, education and training at TRCA.

In the weeks ahead, the aim – as it is for all C4 partnerships – for the program is to benefit both partners and students.

Franz Newland
Franz Newland

For partners, the participating students provide fresh insights and point-of-views that are needed to right the future. “What we have found is getting the student and multidisciplinary perspective can often bring new ideas and approaches to the partners that they might not have considered before,” adds Franz Newland, professor and co-founder of C4 with Robinson.

“We need to work and think differently. We need to collaborate and exchange ideas with bright, young minds and emerging leaders that believe that change and impact is possible,” agrees Marano.

Partners working with undergraduate students also provides an opportunity through experiential learning to develop skills needed for them to, potentially, pursue a sustainability career. “Among the broader conversation we are having with York is, ‘How do we make sure that post-secondary institutions are meeting the workforce development needs of future employers?’ ” says Gray.

Opportunities like these can help provide that, closing a potential onboarding gap with developing skills students will need if they enter the sustainability field – whether with C4 partners or other organizations.

In addition to benefiting with real-world experience and connections to leading organizations, students also gain critical confidence in their abilities and potential to create change. “One of the things that we hope we uniquely offer our students is a chance to really find out who they are as leaders,” says Robinson.

“Organizations like GHD and TRCA help empower their voices so that they can feel there are people who are keen to listen,” says Newland.

That, he says, is a crucial element for this generation of students who can often feel anxious about the climate crisis without knowing what they can do about it, and if their point-of-view will even be heard.

“Often in these spaces there’s a sense of impotence or inability to actually take action, which is part of that challenge,” says Newland. “The fact that organizations like this are looking to engage students’ voices really points to the fact that they recognize that the existing solutions maybe aren’t doing what we need, and we need to be thinking about listening to other voices that may actually have a better path forward.”

The C4 program and its partners help them do that. “They get a chance to find out what skills and knowledge they have and what they can do with them to address a particular challenge the world is facing. It gives them a chance to see what they’re capable of in a really safe space where they can test their boundaries, fail, succeed,” says Robinson. “They want to feel empowered, to help repair the world. They need to see what their contribution might be.”

Applications for C4 are still open: yorku.ca/c4/apply-for-c4/winter-2024.

Professor wins Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award

Molecule of DNA forming inside the test tube equipment

Bill Kim, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, has received the 2023 Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award to support his cutting-edge biological chemistry and genome editing research program.

While point mutations in DNA, caused by replication errors or environmental damage, are found in clinical samples from cancer patients, the role of most mutations in causing disease is unknown, impeding the development of new therapeutics. The award will enable Kim to develop new methods of creating genetic mutations in cells to better understand and treat diseases.

Bill Kim
Bill Kim

Leveraging a gene editing technology called clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and a CRISPR-derivative technology called “base editing” that he co-invented, Kim aims to target disease-associated DNA sequences in cell cultures and create various point mutations to study their impact on protein and cellular function. He will engineer a class of proteins known as DNA glycosylases, which remove the nucleotide bases within DNA; when bases are removed, the cell repairs them by introducing one of the four nucleotides in a semi-random manner. This innovative method will generate diverse mutations that can be studied further to understand their impact on disease. Kim’s approach is anticipated to be more efficient than the conventional base editing strategy he originally co-developed.

Kim is an emerging world leader in genome editing technology development. Throughout his scientific career spanning 11 years, his work on genome editing technology development has been published in world-class journals including Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications and Science Advances, collectively accruing more than 5,400 citations. The CRISPR base editing technology that he co-invented is a revolutionary genome editing method that has gained widespread adoption in hundreds of laboratories worldwide. The technology was a finalist for Science magazine’s 2017 Breakthrough of the Year.

The Petro-Canada Emerging Innovator Award is given to outstanding new full-time faculty members beginning their academic career at York University. The awards program is a commitment by Petro-Canada (now Suncor Energy) and York University to encourage excellence in teaching and research that will enrich the learning environment and contribute to society.

Schulich triumphs in fall case competitions

Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building

This semester, the Schulich School of Business sent several case competition teams to universities across North America – to much success. Each student team received coaching from alumni and faculty as part of Schulich’s highly regarded Case Competition Program, which serves as a platform to develop essential skills in strategic thinking and presentation.

Schulich School of Business Fall 2023 case competition teams. Left photo, from left to right: Ian Chang, Disha Mittal and Abilash Sathyakumar. Right photo, top row: Siddharth Dave, Jack Goodwin and Omer Rahim; middle row: Kian Rastegar and Sophia Katzell; bottom row: Sophie MacLellan, Joanne Estephan, Joe Fayt and Mikayla Wronko.

Team Schulich clinched the $10,000 top prize at Duke University’s 2023 Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition. Ian Chang (JD/MBA ’24), Disha Mittal (JD/MBA ’24) and Abilash Sathyakumar (JD/MBA ’25) competed against 60 teams from over seven countries, including finalists from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Judget Business School at the University of Cambridge. Their winning proposal offered a practical business model addressing the electrification challenges in Nigeria’s rural areas. The team’s achievement, with support from alumna Neda Riazi (BBA ’14), reflects Schulich’s commitment to developing solutions with positive social and environmental impact.

The DeGroote Innovative Solutions Competition (DISC), which took place virtually earlier this month, saw two new Schulich case teams secure second and third place. Students Mikayla Wronko, Sophie MacLellan, Sophia Katzell, Joanne Estephan, Jack Goodwin, Omer Rahim, Kian Rastegar and Siddharth Dave tackled two real-life business cases sponsored by industry leaders. The competition tested their ability to quickly devise business strategies, with one week of preparation for the first case and a three-hour timeframe for the second. The DISC teams received guidance from alumni coaches Michael Chan (MBA ’19), Santoshi Tadanki (MMAI ’23), Kristen Ferkranus (MBA ’20), Adam Wexler (MBA ’11) and Ollie Adegbulu (MF ’23).

All student teams were coached by Professor Joe Fayt, who teaches several marketing courses at Schulich and is responsible for training the graduate-level case teams. Fayt brings over a decade of experience to the Case Competition Program and has earned over 60 international competition victories through his coaching of Schulich teams.

“Congratulations to the Schulich teams on their top-tier placements at recent national and international case competitions,” said Schulich Dean Detlev Zwick. “Kudos as well to the case competition coaches, alumni advisors and supporting faculty who did an outstanding job preparing our students to compete at the very highest levels.”

York community key in new target to achieve net-zero emissions a decade early 

Net Zero 2040 Sustainability Announcement York University

Faculty, staff and students at York University will be part of a progressive next step to build a more sustainable future for all as outlined by a new aspirational target for the University to reach net-zero emissions a decade earlier than originally planned. 

Shared on Nov. 23 by President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton during a special event, the announcement highlights one of the most ambitious net-zero targets in the Canadian post-secondary sector.   

With bold ambition to become one of the most sustainable institutions in Canada, York University is accelerating its timeline and aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 – a decade sooner than its previous commitment.  

The new aspirational target is part of York’s renewed sustainability policy, which includes a commitment to develop and implement a process to track, measure, evaluate and report progress toward net-zero emissions. 

To support this ambition, York recently released its own comprehensive emissions data and ecological footprint assessment from the Ecological Footprint Initiative – a group of York’s scholars, students, researchers and collaborating organizations working together to advance the measurement of ecological footprint and biocapacity – making it the first Canadian institution to do so. This new report provides York with information to identify opportunities to reduce its emissions and develop innovative solutions to support a more sustainable future. 

“The United Nations has stated that climate change is the defining issue of our time, and the world is at a pivotal moment requiring urgent action,” says Lenton. “As an internationally recognized leader in sustainability, York University has a responsibility to act on global challenges facing humanity, including ecological degradation, climate change and growing socio-economic inequality. The bold actions we are taking on our campuses, and in our local and global communities, will build on the strong foundation we have created and move us closer to our goal of becoming one of the most sustainable institutions in Canada.”

York’s ability to strive toward ambitious sustainable change is due in part to the expertise, experience and forward thinking that takes place across its campuses. The University draws on the strengths of its diverse community to approach sustainability through a holistic lens of collaboration, innovation and knowledge mobilization.  

As a core value of the institution, York has embedded sustainability in every aspect of University life – teaching, learning, research and operations. An example of this expertise in action can be found in projects supported through York’s Sustainability Innovation Fund, including a green career fair, a campus composting centre and more. 

To further advance the cutting-edge sustainability research done by the York community, the University announced a new $1-million allocation to the fund, which is currently accepting applications for projects that advance the University’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as contribute to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action).  

The power of community engagement to create positive change has long been part of York’s legacy in becoming a more sustainable university. Activities conducted through the Office of Sustainability and sustainability-focused student groups empower York students, faculty and staff to take part in events such as campus clean-ups, film screenings, learning opportunities and tree plantings. In the past two years, community members have planted over 1,000 trees on the Glendon and Keele campuses.  

The York community is also being engaged though consultations that are currently underway to update the Sustainability Strategy, with an aim of completion for spring 2024. York students, faculty, instructors and staff can provide their input in person or virtually to shape York’s sustainability priorities and help create a more sustainable future. 

“Sustainability starts with our own actions,” said Mike Layton, York’s chief sustainability officer. “We also have a responsibility to our communities – locally and beyond – to ensure we are all contributing to advancing environmental and social sustainability across society. This new announcement demonstrates York’s commitment to sustainability and I look forward to the many ways we will work with the community in service of our new target.” 

The Nov. 23 event included a panel about how York is using data and innovative solutions to shrink its footprint. Insights were also shared by York experts, including: Eric Miller, director of the Ecological Footprint Initiative in the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change; Pirathayini Srikantha, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Reliable and Secure Power Grid Systems at York’s Lassonde School of Engineering; Usman Khan, associate professor at Lassonde; and Steve Prince, director, Energy Management, Facilities Services at York. 

The announcement also featured a short play with students from York’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design; a short video about sustainable travel by Burkard Eberlein, former provostial Fellow and professor from York’s Schulich School of Business; and samples of Las Nubes coffee for attendees to take home. After nearly a decade, Las Nubes coffee has made its way back to Canada and is available in select locations on York’s campuses, including Central Square and Glendon Marché. Part of the proceeds from the coffee sales will go toward supporting York’s Las Nubes Research and Conservation Program.

For more on the event, visit News@York.

Federal grant supports innovative project to improve Canadian digital health care

Medical,Healthcare,Research,And,Development,Concept.,Doctor,In,Hospital,Lab

A three-year grant totalling $500,000 will fund a collaborative project between York University Professor Maleknaz Nayebi and RxPx, a company that creates and supports digital health solutions.

Maleknaz Nayebi

Naybei is a professor in the Lassonde School of Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and a member of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Society (CAIS). CAIS unites researchers who are collectively advancing the state of the art in the theory and practice of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, governance and policy. The research includes a focus on AI systems addressing societal priorities in health care.

The funding, awarded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Alliance Grant program, will support the development of the Digital Health Defragmenter Hub (DH2).

Alliance Grants support university researchers collaborating with partner organizations to “generate new knowledge and accelerate the application of research results to create benefits for Canadians.”

This collaborative project aims to address the intricate challenges within the Canadian digital health-care landscape by integrating advanced software engineering principles with machine-learning algorithms.

The project’s goal is to develop a software platform dedicated to digital health services. Currently, digital health services are designed and offered in isolation from other social, economic or health services, says Nayebi, adding that this results in inharmonious digital health care where many services overlap, while many pain points and requirements remain untacked.

“Lack of co-ordination among providers, the inability of patients to choose services and make open decisions, the rigidity of the market toward digital innovations and isolation of providers are known as the main barriers in the Canadian digital health-care ecosystem,” says Nayebi. “In this ecosystem, the physicians act as service-supply-side monopolists, exercising significantly more power than their demand-side patients. A survey conducted by Price Waterhouse Cooper showed the unpreparedness of the ecosystem, where only 40 per cent could envision a collaboration with other organizations. This further leads to increased inequality within the health-care system. In contrast, 62 per cent of American-based active health-care organizations had a digital health component in their strategic plan.”

DH2 is a platform that brings together open innovation in health care, allowing health-care providers to deliver personalized services to the public. The project is aimed to provide software and AI-based technology that makes digital health services more affordable and accessible to a broader population, integrates innovative business strategies for new entrants or low-end consumers, and creates a value network where all stakeholders benefit from the proliferation of innovative technologies.

“DH2 serves as a marketplace where not only can individuals with basic health-care services contribute, but it also features AI-driven matchmaking services, connecting patients with the specific demands of health-care providers and caregivers,” says Nayebi.

In this capacity, DH2 addresses the defragmentation in the wellness and health ecosystem by enabling users and user communities.

“DH2 goes beyond just connecting people; it also uses machine learning to help patients make informed decisions about their digital health-care options. Such platforms can act as the governing and strategic solution for leading market and innovation, and provide faster time to market by assisting providers in their deployment, distribution and monetization processes. They provide even access to information for all parties and effectively reduce inequalities.”

In addition, platforms add to the geographic diversity of participants. Moreover, says Nayebi, the platform enhances the diversity of participants across different geographic locations, establishing an ecosystem that enables quicker responses to disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research shines light on health-care inequalities for Black women

Black woman waiting office doctor

A new research report co-authored by Professor Agnès Berthelot-Raffard of York University’s Faculty of Health investigates the lack of evidence-based data for Black women’s health care in Canada.

Agnès Berthelot-Raffard
Agnès Berthelot-Raffard

Berthelot-Raffard, the principal investigator on “Santé gynécologique et obstétrique des femme noires : leurs expériences dans the système de santé québécois” (Gynecological and obstetric health of black women: their experiences in the Quebec health system), launched the report on Nov. 17 with co-authors Samia Dumais and Alexandra Pierre, both of Concordia University.

The report is now available through the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec.

The novel study was funded by the Université du Québec à Montréal and aims to fill an important research gap in health-care equity in Canada. The research was done in a by-and-for methodology that centres on the needs and perspectives of the target community, says Berthelot-Raffard. It focuses on the reproductive rights of Black women in Canada.

Including testimonies gathered from Black professionals and patients, the report provides an analysis of the overall experience of Black women within the gynecological and obstetric health-care system, particularly regarding maternity, endometriosis and uterine fibroids.

Agnes Berthelot-Raffard co-authors and members of her research team, Samia Dumais (middle) and Alexandra Pierre (right), both of Concordia University
Agnès Berthelot-Raffard (left) with co-authors and members of her research team, Samia Dumais (middle) and Alexandra Pierre (right), both of Concordia University.

Started in 2020 in collaboration with Relais-Femmes, a feminist organization in Quebec, the study addresses a 2018 United Nations report that highlights the health disparities and limited health-care access faced by Black and Afro-descendant women compared to other Canadian population groups.

Research from the U.S., Canada and France indicates that Black women encounter differing perceptions and treatment in gynecologic and obstetrical care compared to non-Black women, says Berthelot-Raffard. Access to health care and adequate gynecological and obstetrical treatments for Black women is significantly influenced by stereotypes regarding the Black women’s embodiment, racial biases, social status discrimination, ageism and ableism, social and racial inequalities, geographic disparities, limited insurance or public care access due to citizenship status etc.

“These disparities lead to significant consequences, ranging from misdiagnosis, delayed care, limited access to information for informed decision-making, to mental health issues such as depression,” says Berthelot-Raffard. “Black women face increased risks during childbirth due to more caesarean deliveries than other groups of women, more late diagnosis of breast cancer, fibroids, endometriosis and higher rates of postpartum depression. In evaluating the quality of care during pregnancy and postpartum, women emphasize the importance of feeling welcomed within the health-care system alongside their physical well-being.”

The researchers will disseminate the study to various audiences, including health-care professionals such as doctors, obstetricians, nurses and students in health sciences and medicine, as well as with ethicists and occupational orders. The goal is to open the discussion in fertility clinics, birthing centres, abortion centres and feminist organizations as part of a campaign to raise awareness about these critical issues for reproductive justice and equity in the health-care setting.

“We’ve uncovered instances of obstetric and gynecological violence, including forced consent, disregarding their agency, physical abuse, verbal microaggressions and indifference from health-care professionals,” says Berthelot-Raffard. “Our analysis suggests that Black women in Quebec are more exposed to overmedicalization and medical negligence, indicative of discriminatory and abusive practices rooted in health-care stereotypes. This report marks a starting point in acknowledging obstetric and gynecological violence experienced by Black women in the Quebec health-care system.”

Call for nominations for President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards

Female conference lecture teacher professor

The President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards honour those who, through innovation and commitment, have significantly enhanced the quality of learning by York University students. Nominations are now open for the four awards that are offered each year in the following categories:

  • full-time tenured faculty with 10 or more years of full-time teaching experience;
  • full-time faculty (tenured/tenure-stream/CLA) with less than 10 years of teaching experience;
  • contract and adjunct faculty; and
  • teaching assistants.

The purpose of these awards is to provide significant recognition for excellence in teaching, to encourage its pursuit, to publicize such excellence when achieved across the University and in the wider community, and to promote informed discussion of teaching and its improvement.

The awards demonstrate the value York University attaches to teaching. Recipients of the awards, selected by the Senate Committee on Awards, receive $3,000 (less applicable deductions), have their names engraved on the University-Wide Teaching Award plaques in Vari Hall and are recognized at convocation ceremonies.

Nominators are encouraged to approach the Teaching Commons to explore ways to best highlight the teaching strengths and accomplishments of the nominee. Nominators may schedule a consultation –  by phone or Zoom – with an educational developer at the Teaching Commons to discuss the preparation of a nomination package by sending a request to teaching@yorku.ca. Interested parties are also invited to view the recording of the Teaching Commons’ Award Winners Roundtable to hear reflections from Teaching Awards recipients.

Only online nominations for the 2024 Teaching Awards submitted by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, will be accepted.

The Teaching Awards criteria and nomination form are available on the Senate Committee on Awards web page.

From practising law to innovating health care: York prof harnesses potential of genomic medicine 

Collage showing DNA, medicine and more

By Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile editor 

York University Assistant Professor Ian Stedman says the diagnosis of his first-born daughter’s rare disease likely saved his life – and now, he’s focusing his work on helping to do the same for others across Canada.

Ian Stedman
Ian Stedman

The Osgoode Hall Law School alum and lawyer – appointed as assistant professor in the School of Public Policy & Administration in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, with graduate appointments at Osgoode, in Science and Technology Studies and in Socio-Legal Studies – is a co-applicant on a $15-million project that aims to disrupt the current health-care model through the development of a first-of-its-kind national genomics database. 

The Pan-Canadian Human Genome Library (PCHGL), funded through a five-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, will bring together human genome sequencing initiatives across the nation to enhance the collective well-being of people in Canada. 

It will have huge implications for health care, says Stedman, especially for those living with rare diseases and struggling to find a diagnosis – an experience he’s lived through. 

Beginning at a young age, Stedman suffered from a host of symptoms that grew in severity as he got older – frequent rashes, periodic fevers, headaches, bloodshot eyes, arthritis and eventually hearing loss – that had doctors and specialists stumped for more than 30 years. 

Looking back over his health records from the first 18 years of his life, Stedman noted 190 separate visits to his family doctor, walk-in clinics and specialists – not to mention the many visits to emergency departments when his pain became unbearable – that had him seeking answers to his ongoing progressive illness. 

“So, my story is 30 years undiagnosed, having no idea what was going on, and then just giving up,” says Stedman. 

That was, until his daughter Lia began exhibiting similar symptoms during her first year of life. When her health declined a few months before her first birthday, she was brought to the SickKids emergency room, which marked the beginning of their diagnostic journey together.

Ian Stedman's daughters Ivy, Ainsley and Lia.
Lia (right) with sisters Ivy (left) and Ainsley (middle).
Lia Stedman
Ian Stedman’s daughter Lia.

In 2014, both father and daughter were diagnosed with a one-in-a-million genetic disorder called Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS), a member of the family of genetic disorders known as cryopyrin associated periodic syndromes. Thought to be the 12th and 13th in Canada to receive the diagnosis – with the confirmation of Lia’s MWS leading to his same diagnosis – Stedman learned that if left untreated, the syndrome results in premature death before the age of 36 for one in three people.  

He was 32. 

After diagnosis, and with the realization that his daughter had potentially saved his life, Stedman began his advocacy work through the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, where he forged connections with those in the health-care space. He met computer scientist Michael Brudno from the University of Toronto, who, at the time, was the scientific director for SickKids’ Centre for Computational Medicine and co-founder of PhenoTips, a Toronto-based team that provides software and services to genetic health-care providers. 

PhenoTips takes your genetic information and your list of symptoms and uses machine learning to search for other individuals with the same symptoms (phenotype) to then compare whether there are similarities in the related genomes (genotypes). The goal is to offer a potential differential diagnosis or to reveal a possible genetic marker for future research. 

After hearing Stedman’s story at a conference, Brudno approached him and asked if he could digitize his medical records. 

“He wanted to run my information through PhenoTips to see whether the software would be able to suggest a diagnosis,” says Stedman. “It took the software eight visits to figure out what was wrong with me … because he had a dataset of genomes that he could run it against, and so that was the moment where I thought, ‘OK, I’m not just doing law, I’m doing law and health policy now.’ ” 

This experience inspired Stedman to pivot his professional focus and learn how to actualize this type of groundbreaking health-care tool for all Canadians.

Ian Stedman with daughter Lia. Both father and daughter are in good health with the right treatment for their diagnosis of a one-in-a-million genetic disorder called Muckle-Wells syndrome.
Ian Stedman with daughter Lia. Both father and daughter are in good health with the right treatment for their diagnosis of a one-in-a-million genetic disorder called Muckle-Wells syndrome.

“It took me 32 years to get a diagnosis, and it doesn’t seem like it has to be like that anymore. If I could enter the health-care system now, and if that system was allowed to learn from everyone’s health data, I could be diagnosed in one visit,” he says. “It’s actually my mission in life to figure out how that could be possible so that people like me – those coming up behind me – don’t have to tell a story like the one I tell.” 

Drawn to the possibility of creating positive change in the health-care landscape, Stedman became more involved in advocacy work, learned more about health research, joined several boards related to rare diseases and genetics in medicine, and advanced his learnings as a social scientist in a new discipline. 

Now, Stedman will lead a team responsible for patient partnership, participant engagement, training and outreach for the national genome database PCHGL.  

Stedman emphasizes the significance of involving patients in scientific research and highlights the need for patient involvement, and education, in the PCGL initiative. This approach challenges the traditional health-care model and aims to enhance the role of patient partners. 

The project provides an opportunity to empower patient partners in various aspects of the initiative and seeks to ensure their voices are heard in matters including technical decisions, ethics and policymaking.  

Stedman will also contribute to a working group overseeing ethical and regulatory compliance for the library to meet its goal to collect, store and improve access to Canadian genomic data in a way that is equitable, secure and sustainable. 

One of the key questions of the project is “How do we build a more inclusive genomic infrastructure in Canada?” says Stedman. 

“Part of our project is to look at who is represented and who is not represented in the genomes we’ve sequenced in this country. With this library, we can start to take control over improving our representation within the data.” 

Dr. Guillaume Bourque, director of the bioinformatics department at the McGill Genome Centre, will lead this initiative, collaborating with researchers from various partnering institutions. The database project is an extension of the Government of Canada’s Drugs for Rare Diseases Strategy. Its aim is to create a centralized genome library that reflects Canada’s diverse population and empowers researchers and health-care professionals with invaluable insights. 

“The real vision of this library is that it’s going to break down all the silos, so when someone gets diagnosed in Ontario, their doctor can say, ‘Let me go to the library and see what’s out there. Let me see who I can find, and whether they’ve consented to be contacted. Let me see if I can find other physicians who are affiliated with those genomes,’ ” says Stedman. “And it’s a lot easier, because it’s one massive registry.” 

The library will be behind a secure infrastructure that allows researchers and medical professionals to access information, but not remove it. There are interdisciplinary experts in data infrastructure, ethics and governance, patient partnership and operating principles teaming up to realize this shared vision for this life-changing resource. 

The team already has commitments from a few groups willing to share, with patient consent, genomic data. The hope is that within two years, PGCL will be close to launching. 

“When you realize the power genomic data holds to help improve people’s health – and when you’ve lived that realization – it’s a lot easier to buy into the big idea,” says Stedman. “It’s visceral, it’s real. That’s what makes this project so powerful and that’s what I think will ultimately make this library successful.” 

Stedman also serves on the executive of both the Centre for AI & Society and Connected Minds (CFREF) at York University. 

York University marks 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence 

TheCentre-16DaysofActivism-Digital_Web-Banner

The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education at York, along with partners across the University, will offer a series of events to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, an annual international campaign that begins on Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and goes until Dec. 10, Human Rights Day. 

Started in 1991 as a global effort to recognize and speak out against gender-based violence, the 16 Days campaign aims to renew commitment to end violence against women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. 

The Centre has organized a variety of events to inspire and educate community members while honouring victims of gender-based violence as well as 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals from all walks of life who experience and have lost their lives to violence. 

Human Rights Day honours the date the United Nations General Assembly’s adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948. This document sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. It is a milestone in the history of human rights, and has been translated in over 500 languages, holding the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. 

In Canada, we also observe the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women during the 16 Days to remember the women who were murdered during the tragic mass shooting at Polytechnique Montréal on Dec. 6, 1989. 

The Centre at York University works to foster a culture where attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate sexual violence are rejected, survivors are supported, community members are educated and those who commit incidents of sexual violence are held accountable. It offers supports and services, training and events to educate and help University community members. 

All community members are invited to attend the events listed below. Learn more at thecentre.yorku.ca/global-16-days-campaign.  

YU Athlete’s Memorial Pin-making Event – in partnership with Athletics & Recreation 

Date: Nov. 27
Time: noon to 2 p.m.
Location: 305 York Lanes 

Join YU athletes as they create white ribbons (a global movement of men and boys working to end male violence against women and girls) and purple ribbons (attempts to educate the public that violence against women and children is not culturally acceptable) for the York community throughout the duration of the week. 

Supporting Your Queer Child 

Date: Nov. 28
Time: noon to 1p.m.
Format: online
Registration: email thecentre@yorku.ca

The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education in partnership with Toronto Public Health hosts a session that facilitates discussions among participants about how parents/caregivers can foster healthy attitudes about sexuality with their children and support their needs. Registrants are asked to submit questions and topics they are interested in learning more about for this session when they register. 

Healthy Relationships Workshop 

Date: Nov. 29
Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Format: online
Registration: email thecentre@yorku.ca

The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education in partnership with Nellie’s hosts a workshop on healthy dating and relationships for those who identify as women in university to learn about what healthy relationships look like, how to identify red flags in a relationship and what to do if they need support. The workshops will be interactive and allow students to learn and understand the topics in a trauma-informed environment. 

Raising Sexually Healthy Tweens 

Date: Nov. 30
Time: noon to 1 p.m. 
Format: online
Registration: email thecentre@yorku.ca

The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education in partnership with Toronto Public Health hosts a workshop with the goal of providing parents/caregivers with the tools, knowledge and support they need to foster healthy attitudes about sexuality with their tweens. 

Issues and Impacts of Misogynoir 

Date: Nov. 30
Time: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Format: online
Registration: email thecentre@yorku.ca

The Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion in partnership with the Centre for Sexual Violence, Response, Support & Education hosts an interactive session where participants discuss the issue of misogynoir, which shows how sexism and racism manifest in Black women’s lives to create intersecting forms of oppression. Participants explore the detrimental impacts of internalized racism as well as engage in a discussion about healing and self-care. 

Professor receives medal for engineering excellence

Award stock image banner from pexels

Aleksander Czekanski, a professor in the mechanical engineering department at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, was honoured with an Engineering Medal for Engineering Excellence in Industry from the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), as part of the Ontario Professional Engineers Awards (OPEA).

Aleksander Czekanski
Aleksander Czekanski

Engineering Medals are granted to professional engineers who apply ingenuity, innovation and technical expertise to evolve their field and improve quality of life. For nearly a century, the OPEA has recognized first-class engineers and members of OSPE who have made contributions to their field and broader communities.

Czekanski’s award was presented to him at the annual OPEA Gala in November, where he celebrated among other distinguished engineers, industry innovators, business leaders and policymakers.

“I am humbled and honoured to receive the Engineering Medal for Engineering Excellence in Industry from OSPE,” says Czekanski. “This award means so much to me, not only because it recognizes my achievements, but also because it highlights the importance of engineering and my service to the profession and community.”

This award is a recognition of Czekanski’s multidisciplinary expertise and internationally recognized impact on the engineering profession. His work focuses on engineering design and analysis, additive manufacturing, bioprinting and soft tissue mechanics, with applications ranging from biomedical science to materials manufacturing.

“As engineers, we have the opportunity to shape the world in a positive way, and it is our responsibility to do so with integrity, humility and a commitment to excellence,” says Czekanski.

As an integral member of the Lassonde community, Czekanski has helped advance the school’s reach and reputation, as well as the teaching and research capacity of the mechanical engineering department. His Integrated Design and Engineering Analysis Laboratory continues to support high-calibre research, student learning experiences and the development of innovative engineering solutions. He is also the founder and director of the Additive Manufacturing in Engineering Design and Global Entrepreneurship program, which provides students with technical and entrepreneurial training as part of the Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada Collaborative Research and Training Experience.

In addition, Czekanski is a co-founder of a recently-established Lassonde organized research unit, the Manufacturing, Technology and Entrepreneurship Centre (MTEC). MTEC unites a trio of complementary disciplines to bring innovative technologies to market. This research unit utilizes Czekanski’s substantial industry knowledge and expertise, stemming from years of work in the automotive manufacturing sector.

Currently, within a multidisciplinary team including engineers and life science researchers, Czekanski is exploring the applications of in-situ bioprinting with skin cells – a method that blends artificial intelligence, robotics, biomedical science and engineering to directly repair skin wounds on patients with severe burns, diabetes and other medical conditions. He is also investigating the use of 4D bioprinting techniques to produce cardiovascular tubes, which can help support the development of bioprinted, functional and vascularized organs for patients in need.

“Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented and dedicated engineers in the country,” says Czekanski. “Their commitment to excellence has been a constant source of inspiration to me. It is because of them that I have been able to make meaningful contributions to the field of engineering. I am deeply grateful and will continue to work tirelessly to uphold the values of engineering excellence that this award represents.”